RACHEL CARBONELL: Steve Baird and his family run Bogong Horseback Adventures in Towonga in Victoria's North East. They breed Australian stock horses and take guests up into the high country.

STEVE BAIRD: Iím just going to call the horses over and see if they come and visit us.

(Steve Baird calling horses)

RACHEL CARBONELL: The Baird's property is sometimes used as a holding place for horses that have been trapped by Parks Victoria and then trained and re-homed by the Victorian Brumby Association.

STEVE BAIRD: Freda was one of the horses that came out of that program, and we kept her because we just liked the look of her and she had a nice nature.

RACHEL CARBONELL: You would just never know that she was a wild horse, really, would you? She's trying to eat my feet.

STEVE BAIRD: That's right. She's no more a wild horse than the others, really, now.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Back at the house, Steve Baird, explains what drew him and his wife to this area nearly 30 years ago.

STEVE BAIRD: We've always had horses, and we came here with a passion for the heritage of the horse, and the association of horses and the high country, and we chose this area because of the spectacular landscape and the long history of horses here.

RACHEL CARBONELL: We are sitting on your back patio. Can you just describe to me what we can see from where we are sitting?

STEVE BAIRD: Well, we are sitting in the head of the Kiewa Valley, so we are looking at Mt Fainter and Mt Feathertop and Mt Bogong, Victoria's highest mountain.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Steve Baird says the brumbies on this side of the park are a small population descended from animals bred as war horses in the late 1800s, and can be controlled by trapping.

STEVE BAIRD: I believe that they need to be managed - it's just a matter of making choices about how they're managed. When you've got conservation values on one side and heritage values potentially on another side of the same discussion, it's just important that you find solutions that respect the heritage of the horses, but also managed them in a way where they can be sustainable.

If they're allowed to breed out of control, quite often the numbers are controlled by severe winter conditions and starvation and the interference of nature.

RACHEL CARBONELL: So you wouldn't like to see them out altogether?

STEVE BAIRD: No, not at all. The national park, in describing its values, includes a lot of heritage values, and I think the heritage values of the horse are quite significant, and without having those brumbies there as part of what we offer our guests, we would be poorer for it.

RACHEL CARBONELL: He says bigger populations in other parts of the national park may require more stringent controls.

Former ranger and wildlife officer, Roger Bilney, spent much of his career working in the Victorian high country. He says trapping is no longer sufficient to control the thousands of wild horses in the Alpine National Park, and the impassioned promotion of the brumby as a cultural icon is threatening fragile native species.

ROGER BILNEY: Well, we have the last stronghold of the rock wallaby, or the last few colonies that disappeared were in the areas where the horse is; we have the last stronghold where the spotted-tail quoll can be found in Victoria; the alpine crayfish which is heavily threatened by disturbance and turbidity in the waterways of the Alps.

And water quality - the biggest issue is the Murray-Darling Basin, and we have degradation at the very start of the Murray. We can't even have what we might call a pristine water system and all its values because it's been trashed by horses.

RACHEL CARBONELL: Roger Bilney is among the conservationists and scientists who say aerial culling is the most humane and effective way to control horse numbers.

ROGER BILNEY: Trapping is actually encouraging more horses, because it's actually keeping the remaining horses healthier; it's keeping them... greater chance of breeding again the following year because the competition for the resources has been reduced.

I've spoken to a number of people who've been involved in aerial culling, and it is a very effective and very efficient way of taking animals out, and they don't run all over the place as people think - they just run in a line. The shots fired from the helicopter are very effective.

RACHEL CARBONELL: The RSPCA declined to comment, but in its submission to the Victorian Government it says with strict protocols and highly competent operators, it supports culling.

The Alpine National Park borders Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales where wild horses are also a serious problem. The management policy there is also under review.

TONY EASTLEY: Thatís our reporter, Rachel Carbonell, and the Victorian draft wild horse management plan is expected to be released early next year.

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From the Archives

Around 500 Indigenous people fought in the First World War, and as many as 5,000 in the second. But many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diggers who made it home received little or no recognition for their contribution. On Anzac Day, 2007, the first parade to commemorate their efforts and bravery was held in Sydney. Listen to our report from that day by Lindy Kerin.